Mist and Iron
by GuardianReinforcer98
Summary: Titanus is running errands, when he runs into someone (literally) who could change his life in ways he never could have imagined...
1. Chapter 1

I don't own RWBY. Monty Oum does. RIP, Monty! :'(

Titanus was strolling through Vale, mentally calculating how much more supplies he needed to buy for Team ASTR's vacation trip. 'Let's see…Ally said we still need sunscreen and a beach umbrella…Redmond needs a swimsuit…And Skylar wanted me to get her some stuff for tanning…' He sighed. Shopping isn't really my forte. Definitely should have had Ally do it. He stopped. No, it was better that he did it. Ally's impulsiveness for cute things often left her wallet empty. Better to keep the squirrel home. He smiled slightly.

As he finished up shopping, he saw a flash of strangely familiar black and blue out of the corner of his eye. As he scanned his surroundings, he was relieved when he saw that it was just a man in a black-and-blue motorcycle suit. 'Strange…I could have sworn I saw them…' He shrugged it off, making his way back to his Team's room to finish packing. 'Besides, those sick twisted bigots wouldn't dare come near a place with so much diversity,' he reassured himself.

As he rounded a corner without looking, he collided with a woman, causing them both to fall back. Titanus, inwardly cursing himself for his ignorance, he quickly got to his feet, extending a hand to the lady. "I apologize for that. My ignorance was inexcusable."

The lady looked him in the eye for a moment, and then replied,"It's not such a big folly, being distracted." She took his hand, allowing him to help her to her feet. "I accept your apology. However, it seems that your luggage wasn't quite so lucky…"  
Titanus whirled around, a sinking feeling in his gut. His bags had been thrown into the street, causing them to be run over by a passing car. "Oh, boy," he muttered under his breath. "Ally's gonna kill me for being late…" He pulled out his wallet, seeing that he only had just enough to replace the items. But will I have time to make it to all three stores again? Doubtful…

Turning to the lady, he apologized once again for running into her, then pulled out his scroll. His fingers flew across the screen as they plotted the quickest route to pass all three shopping malls again. As he calculated the timing, though, his heart sank. Even if he sprinted, he wouldn't make it back in time for curfew. "Now what do I do?" he muttered.

The lady, after straightening out her dress, started back on her way, when she heard him grumbling and, turning back to him, inquired, "What seems to be the problem? You seem anxious about something."

Titanus flinched at the latter portion of her statement. "Erm…Well, I just have three places to go, and not enough time to get to all of them." He showed her the plotted route. "Even the fastest one would get me back to Beacon 5 minutes after curfew ends."

The lady nodded in understanding. "I see…" She looked at her scroll, checking the time. "Well, I do enjoy a good challenge. What say I assist you in your errand?"

Titanus had a shocked look on his face. "N-no, it's fine. Thank you for the offer, though." He packed up his satchel bag, before turning to get moving. "W-well, I best be off now, so-"

The lady grabbed his hoodie. "Not so fast. I believe you said you wouldn't have enough time. So let's do this: I'll go to one of the places, you go to another. We'll meet at the last one, finish up and get you back to the school. Easy right?"

Titanus was stunned. 'I even declined her help, but she still insists. She's determined, that's for sure.' He thought of Ally, when she was determined. Nothing stopped her, not even a mountain in her way. 'Guess I have no choice…'

"Very well, then," Titanus replied after a pause. He pulled out his scroll, showing her the route she would take, and the route he would follow. Finally, he showed her on the map where they would meet. "We only have an hour, so we need to move with all speed. Are you sure about this?"

The lady nodded, inwardly noting Titanus's unusually mismatched eye color. 'He's different from the rest. Just like me.' She nodded, curtsying. "I'll see you at the final destination."

Titanus nodded, but before he sprinted off, he stopped, turning to her. "I forgot to ask you. What's your name?"

"Mallaithe. And yours?"

"Titanus. A pleasure to meet you."

"And you, as well." With that, she seemingly vanished in the direction of her first destination. Titanus nodded, making a mental note.

"I'll have to thank you for this sometime…Mallaithe." With those parting words, he took off in the direction of his target destination. 'But first, I have to finish this task…'


	2. Chapter 2

Titanus returned to his dorm later that night, only 5 minutes ahead of the curfew. He breathed a sigh of relief when he walked in and dropped his bags at the foot of the desk, then walked over to his bunk, dropping heavily onto the mattress. As he lay there, he wrestled with himself about that mysterious lady, Mallaithe.

 _-Why did she help me?_

 _-It doesn't matter. She was just helping a passerby._

 _-She could have just as easily kept walking. Why would she turn back around?_

 _-Do you honestly believe that she would just help you out of the kindness of her heart?_

 _-Yes, it's possible._

 _-But not probable._

"Hey! Bro! Yoohoo!" Ally snapped him out of his thoughts. "We need a hand with one of the suitcases. Can you hold it down for us?''

Titanus nodded, taking hold of the unruly suitcase, clapping it shut with one hand and zipping it up with the other. He helped them finish their packing, but he never really stopped arguing with himself.

- _She might be the one._

 _-Don't be ridiculous._

 _-But what if?_

 _-And what if not?_

He continued this mental wrestling match into his sleep, finally settling on forgetting her. If he saw her again, he'd thank her, but he would be just fine if he never saw her again.

- _The odds of me running into her and remembering her are FAR too insignificant to even bother trying._

With that final thought, he drifted off to his dreams of battle and honor.

The next morning, Titanus was jarred awake by Skylar's Skycracker hammer whacking him on the head. He grumbled at the wielder, whose stuck-up attitude compelled her to look at him over her aviator shades and sigh.

"Come on, metal-head. Ally and the ninja are waiting for you to get rolling."

"Ugh. What time is it?"

"8:34."

"Crap." He rolled out of bed, caught himself on the floor in push-up position, and then flung himself up to a standing position. "I need to get dressed. Throw me my shield and glaive," he said as he threw on his pants and boots, and then pulled a shirt on. Skylar went to the corner by the door, picked up each of Titanus's tools and flung them at him.

While he was pulling on his jacket, he reached out one hand and caught the glaive, breaking it down and holstering it. With the other hand, he caught the shield, slinging it over his back and locking it onto the magnetic plates in the back of his jacket. "Ready." He grabbed his satchel bag and slung it on his shoulder, then followed Skylar out the door, locking it behind him. As he turned to follow Skylar, he felt for his weapons, holstered on his thighs.

 _Shoot. Force of habit, I guess…_

He smiled slightly to himself, before turning to follow Skylar through the school, into the courtyard, and finally arriving at the bus stop, where Ally sprawled over a bench and fanning herself from the heat, and Redmond sat cross-legged in meditation. Ally gave him a look of exhaustion.

"Aw, man! It's so hot out!" she pouted.

"You wanted to go to the beach today. Do you want to cancel?" he suggested, hoping she'd change her mind.

"Nope. We're gonna have fun today!" She smiled brightly.

"I figured you might say that…" he whispered under his breath.

"Hmm?" Ally looked at him inquisitively.

"Nothing." He looked away.

 _I'll just relax for the next few days, since I don't have to worry about Ally getting into trouble…Maybe…_ He shook his head. _No. Stay focused. She always finds trouble._ The bus arrived, and he picked up his bags and boards the bus.

As he looked over the seating arrangement, he saw two unoccupied seats: one at the back, and one towards the middle. However, Ally was just sitting down in the middle seat, leaving the one at the back the only availability. _That's fine. The more distance between us, the better off we'll be._ As he sat down in the open seat, he turned to see who he was sharing a seat with, and his heart froze.  
There, curled up against the window of the bus with headphones in her ears, and staring out the window, was none other than Mallaithe!


End file.
